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PAYMENT OF DENTISTS
802 of these creatures. They can hardly be grouped with the modern anthropoid apes, since they lack many of their distinguishing features. Neither can they be accepted as primitive and generalised ancestors of the anthropoid apes, for they present so many features of an " advanced " character (such as the construction of the femur, the human appearance of the os innominatum, the morphology of the skull base, the forward position of the occipital condyles, and several details of their dental anatomy). In any case, it is now known from the fossil apes found in East Africa (particularly those collected by’ the British-Kenya Miocene Expedition in 1947) that the anthropoid-ape group had already undergone some of its divergent specialisations as far back as the Early Miocene (probably at least twenty million years before the Australopithecinae appeared on the
position
animals, though it is recorded that the eggs of hens fed with seleniferous wheat are infertile. In mammals the earlier effects of selenium poisoning, such as the shedding of hair and hooves and the general unthriftiness of the animal, may well mask any sterility effects. The amount of selenium inducing complete sterility in the weevil experiments quoted was equivalent to 20 p.p.m. of soil. But a quantitative comparison may be mis. leading, for plants differ greatly in their capacity to take up selenium from soil; the cereals in general are poor selenium feeders. The greatest risk however is that selenium, being an element, persists in the treated soil. It is not decomposed as are the systemic phosphorus insecticides, but will remain a persistent source of danger perhaps unknown to the grower, who one day will plant selenium-tolerant food plants in the treated soil.
scene). Excavations are still proceeding at Sterkfontein, and much more fossil material will no doubt come to light. Meanwhile, an American expedition, directed by Prof. C. L. Camp, the distinguished palaeontologist, has begun excavations about two miles from Sterkfontein. Two more well-preserved femora of one of the Australopithecines have already been found by Professor Camp, and, according to the press report,4 these bones provide further convincing evidence that the fossil creatures walked upright. There can no longer be any doubt regarding the main features of the Australopithecinse. They were ape-like creatures with brains of simian dimensions (though their brain-volume was probably rather greater in proportion to their bodyweight than in the modern apes), but in the construction of the skull, in the details of the dentition, and particularly in the structure of the limb-bones they show far closer resemblances to the Hominidse than do any of the known apes, living or extinct. LATENT DANGERS OF SELENIUM
DENTISTS
THE Spens Committee on the remuneration of dentists1 finds that before the war 25% of those between 35 and 54 years of age had net incomes below £450, 50% below £700, and 75% below £1100. Dentistry is exceptionally arduous, and such rates are too low in relation to the value of the services rendered to the community or to the importance of maintaining and improving recruitment to the profession. The committee thinks that a suitable range of incomes would have been attained by doubling those below £400, and adding £400 to those between jE400 and £800, with rather smaller increases to those above £800. For the lower incomes these are twice the increments that the previous Spens Committee thought necessary for general medical practitioners, and the resultant ranges may be compared as follows :
INSECTICIDES
THE observation that plants growing in naturally seleniferous soils are resistant to insect attack has for some time been used as a basis for academic botanical studies. Watering the experimental plants with dilute solutions of sodium selenate to give soil concentrations of 25 p.p.m. or over of selenium has kept them free from aphides and from the red spider mite. Latterly the method has been recommended to commercial growers for the control of the foliar eelworm of chrysanthemums. Full warning has been given of the risks of selenium poisoning if food plants are so treated, but most growers seem unaware of the insidious nature of selenium toxicity and of the hidden dangers they run in using the method. Attention was lately drawn to these potential dangers in a parliamentary question reported in this issue. The questioner mentioned the possibility of sterility arising, as has been observed in insects. ° As an example, in recent tests.at Long Ashton, wheat, growing in ten-inch pots and watered with sodium selenate solution at flowering, was harvested and to the grain a known number of the weevil Calandra granaria was added. Four weeks was allowed for the weevils to breed, and the original adults, which appeared to be unharmed, were removed. After a further month the offspring in the wheat sample were counted. The wheat from an untreated soil had 344 weevils ; that from soil treated once with 50 ml. of 0-1% anhydrous sodium selenate had 124 weevils ; that from soil treated twice with the selenate solution had 75 weevils ; that from soil treated thrice was free from weevil infestation. Check experiments showed that the sterility of the weevils was due wholly to the selenium treatment. No direct evidence has been found in veterinary literature that sterility is a feature of selenium toxicity in 4. Times, May 4, 1948.
PAYMENT OF
But the supply of dentists may not be so related to demand as to produce a spread of incomes comparable to that in 1938, and the committee has therefore based its final recommendations on the calculation that an experienced and efficient single-handed dentist, fully employed but not working more than 33 chairside hours a week, should have a net annual income of f:l600 at 1939 values. (Various methods of improving on this
figure
are
mentioned, including appointment-mainly
the recommendation of dental colleagues-to wholetime or part-time specialist posts.) The committee thinks that under the previous recommendations a general medical practitioner undertaking the same standard of full but not unusually heavy work " would command a net income of E1800 at 1939 values. The dentist, it believes, suffers more intensive strain in his chairside work, and a chairside week of 33 hours means in general a working week of some 42 hours. But to earn f:l800 the doctor would have to work 50-55 hours a week, and it is far less easy for him to go right off duty. This is held to justify the proposal that the doctor should still receive a rather higher income than his on
"
dental
contemporary.
THE next session of the General Medical Council will open on Tuesday, May 25, at 2 P.M., when Sir Herbert Eason, the president, will take the chair. 1. Report of Inter-departmental Committee on the Remuneration of General Dental Practitioners (Chairman: Sir Will Spens). Cmd. 7402. H.M. Stationery Office. Pp. 13. 4d.
position
animals, though it is recorded that the eggs of hens fed with seleniferous wheat are infertile. In mammals the earlier effects of selenium poisoning, such as the shedding of hair and hooves and the general unthriftiness of the animal, may well mask any sterility effects. The amount of selenium inducing complete sterility in the weevil experiments quoted was equivalent to 20 p.p.m. of soil. But a quantitative comparison may be mis. leading, for plants differ greatly in their capacity to take up selenium from soil; the cereals in general are poor selenium feeders. The greatest risk however is that selenium, being an element, persists in the treated soil. It is not decomposed as are the systemic phosphorus insecticides, but will remain a persistent source of danger perhaps unknown to the grower, who one day will plant selenium-tolerant food plants in the treated soil.
scene). Excavations are still proceeding at Sterkfontein, and much more fossil material will no doubt come to light. Meanwhile, an American expedition, directed by Prof. C. L. Camp, the distinguished palaeontologist, has begun excavations about two miles from Sterkfontein. Two more well-preserved femora of one of the Australopithecines have already been found by Professor Camp, and, according to the press report,4 these bones provide further convincing evidence that the fossil creatures walked upright. There can no longer be any doubt regarding the main features of the Australopithecinse. They were ape-like creatures with brains of simian dimensions (though their brain-volume was probably rather greater in proportion to their bodyweight than in the modern apes), but in the construction of the skull, in the details of the dentition, and particularly in the structure of the limb-bones they show far closer resemblances to the Hominidse than do any of the known apes, living or extinct. LATENT DANGERS OF SELENIUM
DENTISTS
THE Spens Committee on the remuneration of dentists1 finds that before the war 25% of those between 35 and 54 years of age had net incomes below £450, 50% below £700, and 75% below £1100. Dentistry is exceptionally arduous, and such rates are too low in relation to the value of the services rendered to the community or to the importance of maintaining and improving recruitment to the profession. The committee thinks that a suitable range of incomes would have been attained by doubling those below £400, and adding £400 to those between jE400 and £800, with rather smaller increases to those above £800. For the lower incomes these are twice the increments that the previous Spens Committee thought necessary for general medical practitioners, and the resultant ranges may be compared as follows :
INSECTICIDES
THE observation that plants growing in naturally seleniferous soils are resistant to insect attack has for some time been used as a basis for academic botanical studies. Watering the experimental plants with dilute solutions of sodium selenate to give soil concentrations of 25 p.p.m. or over of selenium has kept them free from aphides and from the red spider mite. Latterly the method has been recommended to commercial growers for the control of the foliar eelworm of chrysanthemums. Full warning has been given of the risks of selenium poisoning if food plants are so treated, but most growers seem unaware of the insidious nature of selenium toxicity and of the hidden dangers they run in using the method. Attention was lately drawn to these potential dangers in a parliamentary question reported in this issue. The questioner mentioned the possibility of sterility arising, as has been observed in insects. ° As an example, in recent tests.at Long Ashton, wheat, growing in ten-inch pots and watered with sodium selenate solution at flowering, was harvested and to the grain a known number of the weevil Calandra granaria was added. Four weeks was allowed for the weevils to breed, and the original adults, which appeared to be unharmed, were removed. After a further month the offspring in the wheat sample were counted. The wheat from an untreated soil had 344 weevils ; that from soil treated once with 50 ml. of 0-1% anhydrous sodium selenate had 124 weevils ; that from soil treated twice with the selenate solution had 75 weevils ; that from soil treated thrice was free from weevil infestation. Check experiments showed that the sterility of the weevils was due wholly to the selenium treatment. No direct evidence has been found in veterinary literature that sterility is a feature of selenium toxicity in 4. Times, May 4, 1948.
PAYMENT OF
But the supply of dentists may not be so related to demand as to produce a spread of incomes comparable to that in 1938, and the committee has therefore based its final recommendations on the calculation that an experienced and efficient single-handed dentist, fully employed but not working more than 33 chairside hours a week, should have a net annual income of f:l600 at 1939 values. (Various methods of improving on this
figure
are
mentioned, including appointment-mainly
the recommendation of dental colleagues-to wholetime or part-time specialist posts.) The committee thinks that under the previous recommendations a general medical practitioner undertaking the same standard of full but not unusually heavy work " would command a net income of E1800 at 1939 values. The dentist, it believes, suffers more intensive strain in his chairside work, and a chairside week of 33 hours means in general a working week of some 42 hours. But to earn f:l800 the doctor would have to work 50-55 hours a week, and it is far less easy for him to go right off duty. This is held to justify the proposal that the doctor should still receive a rather higher income than his on
"
dental
contemporary.
THE next session of the General Medical Council will open on Tuesday, May 25, at 2 P.M., when Sir Herbert Eason, the president, will take the chair. 1. Report of Inter-departmental Committee on the Remuneration of General Dental Practitioners (Chairman: Sir Will Spens). Cmd. 7402. H.M. Stationery Office. Pp. 13. 4d.